


honey don't feed me (i will come back)

by zachas



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), Alternate Universe - Vampire, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Supernatural Elements, also there's some martin/janne if you squint and i sure will, whoops this also sort of turned into a coffeshop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-18 18:15:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16522202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zachas/pseuds/zachas
Summary: At first glance, it just looks like a huge hickey, but within the purple bruising are two small holes, placed about three centimeters apart on his neck, scabbed over and healing — the unmistakable mark of a vampire bite. The gold cross and chain he normally wears around his neck are conspicuously missing.The memories of the last night come flooding back into Andrei’s mind, and he flushes.“Fucking vampires,” he says.(Or: Andrei is a part-time vampire hunter. Fil is a full-time pain in the ass.)





	honey don't feed me (i will come back)

**Author's Note:**

> hey! wow it's been a while since i've written anything.
> 
> thanks to amy for the moral support, as usual, even though you didn't actually beta this fic. thanks to steph for looking over this for me and also dragging me into enemies-to-lovers fil/andrei, this is all ur fault. thanks to hannah for betaing this as well and for coming up with the idea of fil/andrei in the first place, this is _also_ all ur fault.
> 
> in terms of content warnings, there is a bit of blood and violence in this, but no more than what you would expect from a vampire au. if there's anything i missed that u think should have a warning, please let me know!
> 
> title from the song it will come back by hozier.

It happens because Andrei is an idiot.

He’d just spent all week tracking down some vampire lax bros who had been terrorizing frat row, and then he’d bombed a Western Ethics test that he didn’t study for because he was busy tracking down vampire lax bros, and honestly, he deserves a break. College is hard enough without hunting down vampires on top of that.

Which is how he ends up at a bar on a Thursday night, pretty decently tipsy, subtly eyeing the hot guy sitting across the bar from him who’s definitely eyeing him back. 

The other guy eventually makes the first move, getting up from his spot and sliding into the empty seat next to Andrei. He’s got dark brown hair and a smile that looks more like a smirk, and he’s pretty hot. 

“Hey,” the guy says. His voice is lightly accented with something that sounds vaguely Eastern European, but definitely not Russian. “I’m Fil.”

“Andrei,” Andrei says carefully.

“Can I buy you a drink, Andrei?” Fil says, and there’s a hint of that smirk again, curling up around the corner of his lips like a challenge. 

“I’ll take a free drink any time,” Andrei says. 

Fil’s smile grows wider, and he turns to wave down the bartender. 

Andrei chats to Fil for a while, though he really could not for the life of him tell you what they talked about. But what he does remember is the slow way they’d edged closer to each other as the minutes passed, and Fil, leaning forward into Andrei’s space under the pretense of making himself heard over the noise of the bar, his warm hand on Andrei’s thigh for balance.

It doesn’t take long before Fil finishes off his drink and gets up from his seat. “I’m going to go to the bathroom,” he says, and he leaves before Andrei can reply.

Andrei gives him five minutes before he downs his last shot and follows. 

Fil ambushes him the moment he steps into the bathroom.

“Took you long enough,” he growls, pushing Andrei against the wall with surprising strength.

Andrei huffs a laugh. “You’re impatient,” he says, right before Fil kisses him.

Fil’s mouth is hot and hungry, his lips pressing hard against Andrei’s, and Andrei can’t help the groan that escapes out of his mouth. He grabs Fil by the hips and yanks him closer, rough and desperate, and Fil makes a little noise into Andrei’s mouth and kisses him even harder. He finds Andrei’s belt and quickly undoes it, reaching into Andrei’s waistband, and Andrei bites back a sharp gasp as Fil takes him in his hand and starts to move.

Fil breaks away from the kiss and drags his teeth over Andrei’s chin, then his neck, all the while stroking him faster and faster. Andrei shudders, tilting his head back against the wall to give Fil more room.

“Hey,” Fil says suddenly, lifting his mouth from Andrei’s neck and stilling his hand on his dick. “Can I bite you?”

Andrei blinks at him. “Um. Sure?” 

Fil grins at him, and it’s only in that split second before it happens, when Andrei catches a flash of bright white fangs in that wide-mouthed smile, that he realizes his mistake.

Fil sinks his teeth into Andrei, and Andrei cries out at the sharp pain that flares up in his neck. But a moment later, the pain passes, and suddenly, it feels… _good._ He feels himself relaxing into Fil’s touch, all the muscles in his body melting into liquid, and the only reason he doesn’t just slide down onto the floor is Fil’s hand on his shoulder, keeping him firmly pinned to the wall. And he knows he should push Fil away, should fight him off and find something to stake him through the heart with because he’s a fucking _vampire,_ but with every suck of Fil’s mouth against his neck, a wave of pleasure pulses through Andrei’s body, and all he can do is moan.

Then Fil’s hand starts moving on Andrei’s dick again. He moves at an almost punishingly cruel pace, and Andrei lets out a choked noise, his breath coming in short little whimpers. 

He comes like that, with his dick in a vampire’s hand. It’s not his proudest moment.

Fil pulls away from him. There’s a spot of something dark on the corner of his mouth, and he pokes his tongue out and licks it away in a flash.

“Thanks,” he says, his mouth tipped up in that same infuriating smirk. “See you around.”

Andrei tries to say something, tries to do something, _anything_ besides just standing there like an idiot, but his legs are still mush and his voice won’t work, and all he can do is watch as Fil walks away.

\---

Andrei doesn’t remember how he gets to his apartment. All he knows is that he wakes up in his room, all wrapped up in his too-warm blankets.

It’s noon. He has class in half an hour.

He throws off the duvet and stumbles over to the bathroom. His head throbs and the side of his neck aches, though he can’t imagine why, until he catches sight of himself in the mirror.

At first glance, it just looks like a huge hickey, but within the purple bruising are two small holes, placed about three centimeters apart on his neck, scabbed over and healing — the unmistakable mark of a vampire bite. The gold cross and chain he normally wears around his neck are conspicuously missing.

The memories of the last night come flooding back into Andrei’s mind, and he flushes.

“Fucking vampires,” he says.

Andrei’s roommate, Martin, is already in the kitchen when he walks in, making up a pot of coffee. He takes one look at the mark on Andrei’s neck and whistles. 

“Fun night?” he asks.

“No,” Andrei scowls.

He pours himself a cup of coffee and downs it as fast as he can without burning his tongue. Then he picks up all his books (and his extra crucifix) and makes his way to campus for class.

\---

Andrei muddles through his classes of the day, dutifully filling his notebooks with notes, and doesn’t really remember anything from any of them. 

He’d tried to hide the hickey by wearing a big sweater, but it doesn’t really help. He feels a few stares on him throughout the day, but no one really says anything to him. Alexey waggles his eyebrows at him for a little while when he sees him, but Andrei ignores him.

When he gets home after dinner, he drops his stuff in a haphazard pile on the coffee table and flops onto the couch. Normally, this would be the time of the day where Andrei would get through as much of his homework as he could before going out and following up on the most recent vampire he’d been tracking, but… Andrei pokes at the hickey on his neck and sighs. Not today, he decides. 

In the end, he does what he always does when he’s feeling lost.

“Andrei!” the voice exclaims warmly from Andrei’s phone.

“Hello, Zhenya,” Andrei says, his mouth tipping up in a smile.

“It’s good to hear your voice,” Zhenya says. “Feels like you never have time to call your brother anymore…”

“I called you two weeks ago!” Andrei protests.

Zhenya makes a dismissive noise. “Might as well be forever,” he says.

Andrei rolls his eyes, even though his brother can’t see it. “How have you been, Zhenya?” he asks.

Zhenya launches into a long update about his life in Detroit, including funny stories about his classmates and professors at college, and Andrei listens, letting the familiar cadence of his brother’s voice wash over him. 

“But how are you, Andrei?” Zhenya asks once he finishes talking.

A loud sigh escapes Andrei’s mouth before he can take it back, and Zhenya laughs.

“Oh, I know that sound,” he says. “What’s wrong, little brother?”

The whole story pours out of Andrei — the bar, Fil, getting bitten in the bathroom — though with some omitted details. Obviously.

“It’s just —” Andrei starts.

“Embarrassing?” Zhenya says.

“... Yeah,” Andrei admits. “I can’t believe I fell for all of his — I don’t know. He must have been compelling me or something.”

“Didn’t you have your crucifix on?” Zhenya asks. “That should protect you from compulsion.”

“I thought I did, but I must have lost it somewhere,” Andrei says.

Zhenya sighs, his breath crackly over the phone. “You know, Andrei, you really don’t have to do any of this vampire hunting business if you don’t want to,” he says. “I know it’s the family tradition, but even Mom and Dad don’t take it that seriously anymore. You could stop if you wanted to. And you could focus more on your studies.”

Andrei bites his lip. “I know, Zhenya, but… vampires are always hurting people, and I don’t think I could live with myself if I knew I could stop them but I didn’t. I have to help as much as I can.”

Zhenya sighs. “You and your stupid morals,” he says. 

“They’re not stupid,” Andrei says. 

“I know, I know,” Zhenya says. Then, “Shit, I have to go. Stay safe, okay, Andrei? Don’t do anything too stupid.”

“I won’t,” Andrei says. “Bye, Zhenya.”

\---

True to his word, Andrei tries to keep himself out of trouble for the next few days. He makes sure to keep his cross on him at all times, and he double checks every few hours to make sure it’s still there. He takes a break from hunting vampires for a little while, instead funneling his energy into his schoolwork. He avoids going to too many parties, because college parties are always huge vampire hotspots.

But it doesn’t take long before he catches wind of some vampire activity happening in the city, and Andrei doesn’t even think before he grabs a wooden stake and heads out to scope it out after his classes.

On the way to the vampire-infested area in question, Andrei walks by the same bar he went to last Thursday. He speeds up his stride, trying to pass it as quickly as possible, but before he can, he spots a flash of movement in the alleyway next to the bar. He turns to look.

In the alley, Andrei can see two men, pressed close together. One of them is pushing the other into the brick wall, his head bent over his neck, and at a quick glance, it just looks like two people hooking up, but Andrei knows better. 

Andrei draws his stake from his belt and steps into the alleyway. “Step away from the human,” he orders.

The vampire stiffens, then lifts his head and slowly turns around. The man he was feeding off of slumps to the ground without anyone holding him up, but Andrei doesn’t really notice him, because —

“Hello Andrei,” Fil grins.

“You!” Andrei says. “You’re not getting away from me this time!”

Fil takes a step toward Andrei. “What, are you gonna kill me, then?” 

Andrei scowls. “Of course I’m going to kill you! What kind of question is that? You’re a vampire! And you — you —” He flushes. 

Fil takes another step forward. “And I jerked you off in the bathroom last week?” he smirks. “Yeah, I remember that. You seemed to like that part a lot.”

Andrei feels himself go even redder. “Shut up!” he snaps. “You were compelling me! I _know_ you were.”

“I wasn’t, actually,” Fil says, and when did he get so close? He takes another step closer to Andrei and Andrei brandishes his stake at him.

“Stay back,” Andrei says. 

Fil ignores him and keeps coming. “You know, I didn’t even see you at the bar until I noticed you looking at me,” he says. “You were so easy, I didn’t need to compel you at all.”

“You’re lying,” Andrei says, but his voice comes out shaky and uncertain. “I don’t — I don’t believe you.”

Fil shrugs. “You don’t have to believe me. But it’s the truth.”

He’s right in front of him now, within arms reach. Andrei should stake him.

“Get back!” Andrei says. The hand holding the stake is trembling a little. 

Fil laughs. “You still want me, don’t you?” he says.

“What? No!” Andrei says frantically. “It was — That night was a mistake. I —”

In one swift motion, Fil grabs Andrei and shoves him into the alley wall. Andrei yelps in surprise and accidentally lets go of the stake. _Fuck._

Fil leans his head forward until he’s right in Andrei’s space, until his mouth is almost touching the shell of Andrei’s ear. He’s so close that Andrei can practically smell the blood on his breath. 

“I can hear your heartbeat,” Fil whispers. “I know you’re lying.”

“I’m not — I’m not lying,” Andrei says, but his voice sounds weak even to his own ears. He swallows. 

Fil’s eyes follow the movement of Andrei’s adam’s apple, and he lowers his head to the side of Andrei’s neck, his lips just barely brushing against the edge of his fading hickey. Andrei shivers.

“You don’t have the compulsion excuse this time, because you’re wearing a cross,” Fil says off-handedly. Andrei can feel him smile against his neck. “I couldn’t compel you now even if I wanted to.”

“Get off of me,” Andrei says, but it comes out more like a whisper. 

Fil hums, then lightly nips the skin of Andrei’s neck, using his normal teeth, not his fangs, and Andrei’s breath catches in his throat. Fil pauses, then laughs, and presses a small, close-mouthed kiss to the side of Andrei’s neck before he lets him go.

“I’ll see you around, Andrei,” he says. 

He turns away and heads out of the alleyway, and Andrei wills himself to pick up his stake again, to do _something,_ but he can’t. Just watches as he walks away.

\---

 **Andrei:** is there a way for a vampire to compel a person who’s wearing a cross?

 **Zhenya:** i don’t think so! 

**Andrei:** there has to be a way.

 **Zhenya:** crosses are foolproof protection, you know this!

 **Zhenya:** why are you asking? did something happen?

 **Zhenya:** did you bump into that vampire you met at the bar again?

 **Zhenya:** what was his name?

 **Zhenya:** phil?

 **Zhenya:** andrei!!! you have read receipts on, you can’t ignore me!!!!!

\---

Andrei doesn’t see Fil for a little while after that, which is just fine with him. He takes the time to focus on his studies instead of going out vampire hunting, which is doing wonders for his productivity. 

Alexey drags him out to a frat party one night, because, “You need to loosen up, Andrei! You’ve been looking even more uptight than usual.”

“I’m not uptight,” Andrei had argued, but Alexey’d just laughed at him. 

“Hey,” Alexey shouts over the noise of the music, handing Andrei a cup of beer. “That guy over there’s been looking at you.”

Andrei turns to look, and it’s Fil. Because of course it is.

“No way,” Andrei says. 

Fil sees him looking and gives him a little wave. Andrei doesn’t wave back. 

“Do you know him?” Alexey asks, curious. 

“No,” Andrei says.

He marches over to the corner where Fil is standing. Fil leans back against the wall and watches him approach, a wry smile playing on the corner of his mouth.

“What are you doing?” Andrei demands.

“Getting drunk,” Fil says carelessly. “Partying. You know, because I’m at a party.”

“You can’t be here,” Andrei says.

Fil rolls his eyes at him. “Relax, Andrei,” he says. “I already fed yesterday, I’m not gonna do anything tonight.”

Andrei narrows his eyes. “I don’t trust you.”

Fil laughs. “Well, you’re gonna have to.”

“Not if you leave,” Andrei says.

“And what if I don’t?” Fil asks. He’s smirking again, and god, Andrei hates that smirk so much. “What are you gonna do about it?”

And that’s how Andrei ends up spending the rest of the night staying close to Fil.

“Why are you following me around?” Fil asks, amused.

“I’m making sure you don’t do anything,” Andrei huffs. 

“Okay,” Fil says.

“Stop smirking,” Andrei says. 

A sweaty arm hooks around Andrei’s shoulders from behind, and Andrei startles at the sudden weight.

“Hey Andrei,” Alexey grins, leaning into his arm. “Who’s your friend?”

“He’s not my friend,” Andrei says.

“Fil,” Fil says.

“Cool, I’m Alexey,” Alexey says. “How do you feel about a round of beer pong, Fil?”

Andrei somehow gets dragged into beer pong too, despite his loud protests. He and Alexey partner up, and they manage to hold their own pretty well, but Fil and Janne absolutely wipe the floor with them.

“Better luck next time?” Fil offers. Andrei glowers at him.

Fil disappears for a bit while Alexey bullies Andrei into playing a few more rounds, but before Andrei has the time to go hunt him down, he reappears, holding two shots of what looks like vodka. 

“You want a shot?” Fil asks, holding out one of the glasses to Andrei.

Andrei hesitates. He’s already drunk more than he’d like, and he needs to keep a clear head right now, especially around Fil.

“Unless, of course, you can’t keep up with me,” Fil says, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a little smile. “I’ve only seen you have a few beers, but I’m sure that must be a lot for y—”

“Fuck you, I’m Russian,” Andrei snaps, snatching the shot out of Fil’s hand and downing it. 

Fil grins, then follows suit.

 

“I know what you’re doing,” Andrei says loudly, much later, and much drunker. He’s been matching Fil drink for drink, but Fil, irritatingly, doesn’t seem much drunker than he was before.

“Am I doing something?” Fil asks.

“You’re trying to mess with me,” Andrei accuses. “Playing your stupid mind games on me with your fucking… vampire charm.”

Fil laughs. “Vampire charm?”

“I’m onto you,” Andrei says, pointing at Fil with his empty cup. “And I’ll have you know, it’s not working.”

“Oh yeah?” Fil says.

Before Andrei can reply, he feels a sharp tug at his waist, and it takes him a moment to realize that Fil’s hooked his fingers through Andrei’s belt loops. Fil leans backwards, dragging Andrei with him, and Andrei just manages to stick one of his arms out against the wall to keep himself from falling right into Fil. 

But even so, Fil’s face is so close, now, close enough that Andrei can smell his stupid cologne, can feel his breath stirring against Andrei’s lips, can feel the warmth of his body pressing against his own.

“Are you sure about that?” Fil says.

He’s got that look on his face again, all smug and triumphant, and Andrei — 

Andrei pushes Fil into the wall and kisses that damn smirk off of his face.

It’s awkward at first, their teeth clacking together, and it takes a few moments for Fil to react, his mouth frozen like he hadn’t expected it. Andrei feels a jolt of vicious satisfaction.

 _Bet you didn’t see this coming, did you, asshole?_ he thinks.

But then Fil tilts his head up and kisses back with a fury, his lips hot and hungry against Andrei’s. He digs his fingers into Andrei’s collar and yanks him closer, and Andrei follows, chasing his mouth, until —

Something flashes, burning hot against Andrei’s chest, and both of them jerk back. Fil hisses, holding his left hand, smoking slightly, to his chest. Andrei’s hand flies to the cross hanging around his neck. 

“Fuck,” Andrei pants. 

Fil raises an eyebrow at him.

“Shut up,” Andrei snaps, and he walks away before he can do something stupid.

\---

Andrei wakes up the next day with a pounding headache and an awful hangover, and honestly, it’s a miracle he doesn’t throw up on the way to the kitchen. 

“Wow, you look terrible,” Martin says.

“Coffee,” Andrei groans.

Martin winces. “The coffee machine’s broken.”

Andrei groans louder. 

He’s still got an hour before class, so he ends up dragging himself out of the apartment and stopping by a nearby Starbucks. It’s pretty crowded, like it usually is, and Andrei’s pretty exhausted, which is probably why, when he shuffles to the side to wait for his drink, he doesn’t really notice —

“Wow, you look terrible,” Fil says from the other side of the counter. 

Andrei stares at him for a long moment, takes in the green apron, Starbucks hat, and the name tag pinned to his chest that reads, _Hi, I’m Fil!_

“I am way too hungover to deal with you right now,” Andrei says flatly.

Fil snorts.

Fortunately, Fil leaves Andrei alone for the most part, busy whipping up drinks for the other customers. He doesn’t bother calling Andrei’s name when he finishes making Andrei’s coffee, just hands it to him directly over the counter.

“Have a good day,” Fil says, smiling. His eyes crinkle at the corners.

Andrei scowls. He takes his coffee and leaves. 

It’s not until Andrei’s settled into his seat in his first class that he spots it. His name is scrawled on the side of his coffee cup, spelled _Andre_ in messy sharpie, and next to it is a little stick-figure doodle of a vampire, complete with fangs and a widow’s peak. Andrei glares at it.

“Wow, you look awful today, Svech,” Nico Roy comments as he slides into the seat next to him.

Andrei huffs. “I’ve heard.”

\---

The thing is, neither Andrei nor Martin have the spare cash to buy a good replacement coffee machine at the moment, so Andrei’s stuck with getting his caffeine from somewhere else. He looks for other coffee shops in the area, but the Starbucks that Fil works at is the closest one to the apartment, and it’s the only one that’s on his way to class. 

Fil isn’t always there, but more often than not, Andrei finds him smirking at him from behind the cash register.

“Can I have one medium—” Andrei starts.

“One grande latte with skim milk,” Fil says, tapping away at the register. “Yeah, yeah, I know your order. Don’t you ever want to change it up every once in a while? We’ve got all the Christmas drinks now, you should try one.”

Andrei frowns. “No.”

When Andrei gets his coffee, his name is spelled as _Andray_ on the side, and next to it is a doodle of a Christmas tree and a grumpy-looking stick figure wearing a Santa hat.

“You’re not funny, you know!” Andrei calls over the noise of the quickly-filling cafe. Fil just grins.

So that’s how it goes. Every morning that Andrei goes to get a coffee, he also gets a new, increasingly convoluted misspelling of his name and a little doodle on the side of the cup. After the third or fourth time, Alexey grins and asks Andrei who his “new Starbucks boyfriend” is, which is just… ridiculous, so Andrei ignores him.

Andrei manages to ignore most of the Fil nonsense, actually. Bar a few times.

“Entree?” Andrei yells, waving his coffee cup. _“Really,_ Fil?”

“Is that not your name?” Fil asks innocently.

“You _know_ it’s not!”

The other customers are staring at him, so Andrei leaves in a huff. As he walks to class, he looks down at the cup again. 

“Entree,” he mutters under his breath. “That’s so fucking stupid.”

He turns the cup to look at his doodle of the day, which is just a square, for some reason. But then Andrei spots some black marker curling out from behind the cardboard sleeve, and he tugs it off the cup to reveal a note hidden underneath.

_delta epsilon tau is having a huge frat party tomorrow. be there or be square!_

Andrei stares at the words for a moment. Then he snorts and slides the sleeve back on the cup.

_As if I’d go to a frat party just because he asked me to._

\---

“Can’t believe you were the one to suggest that we go to a frat party, Andrei!” Alexey yells over the loud music. 

“It’s not that surprising,” Andrei argues. “I go to parties!”

“But you’ve been all about the studying, recently,” Alexey points out. “What changed your mind?”

“Nothing,” Andrei says. Out of the corner of his eye, Andrei catches sight of Fil at the ping pong table, playing flip cup, and Alexey follows his gaze.

“Oh, is that how it is?” Alexey waggles his eyebrows.

“You look ridiculous when you do that,” Andrei says. Alexey predictably doesn’t stop. “And no, that’s not how it is. I don’t care about Fil. I don’t even know him.”

“Oh really?” Alexey says. “I saw you two at the last party. Making out against the wall.”

Andrei flushes. “Shut up.”

“Aww, but what about your Starbucks boyfriend?” Then, when Andrei doesn’t say anything, “Wait. Is _he_ your Starbucks boyfriend?”

“... No.”

“Oh my god.” Alexey looks absolutely delighted. Andrei hates his friends.

“I hate you,” Andrei informs him.

“I know,” Alexey says cheerfully. 

No matter what Alexey says, Andrei is at the party just to make sure Fil doesn’t feed on anyone. That’s the only reason he’s here.

Alexey leaves briefly to go to the bathroom, and Andrei stands back and watches Fil. He’s not going to lie, Andrei was sort of expecting Fil to come over to him and stir up shit, just like he normally does, but he doesn’t, not even when he finishes playing flip cup. He glances at Andrei a couple of times, but other than that, he doesn’t pay him any attention. 

Not that Andrei cares.

Instead, Andrei keeps seeing him talking to two other guys, who are wearing backwards snapbacks and tank tops even though it’s below freezing outside. Andrei doesn’t know them, but they’re probably members of the frat. Their conversations look a lot more like arguments, though. There’s a lot of heated whispering. Andrei sees one of them shove Fil, and Fil shoves him back, but nothing escalates further than that.

Again, not that Andrei cares. As long as Fil isn’t feeding on anyone, he doesn’t care what he does or who he talks to. 

Andrei goes to get another drink.

 

“Andrei, why are you sulking?” Alexey asks, a little while later. 

“I’m not sulking,” Andrei mutters.

“Is it because your pretty boy over there won’t come over and talk to you?” Alexey asks.

“No,” Andrei snaps. “And he’s not my pretty boy.”

Alexey’s eyes flicker over to something behind Andrei, and he grins. “Speak of the devil.”

“Hey,” Fil says from behind Andrei.

Andrei turns around. “Hey.”

Alexey pats Andrei’s arm. “I’m gonna go get another beer,” he says, and he leaves before Andrei can say anything.

“Fil —” Andrei starts.

“I think you should leave,” Fil says.

Andrei’s mouth clicks shut. “Fine,” he bites out. “If that’s what you want.”

Fil blinks, taken aback. “Wait, Andrei, I — I didn’t mean it like that. Let me walk you home, it’s dangerous.”

“I think I’ll be fine on my own,” Andrei says sharply. “Wouldn’t want to ruin your party, anyway.”

“Andrei —” Fil says, but Andrei’s already turning away. He pushes through the crowds of partiers until he finds his way to the front door and walks out.

The cold winter air is a relief after the stuffy warmth of the frat house. Andrei zips up his coat and sets off for his apartment. It takes him a few minutes to remember that he’d just abandoned Alexey at the frat house without any explanation, so Andrei pulls out his phone and texts him.

 _sorry, i left the party early,_ he texts. _i hope you don’t mind._

Too late, Andrei hears the telltale patter of footsteps behind him. He spins around, but before he can do anything, someone crashes into him. The force of their body makes him stagger backwards, off balance, and someone else shoves him into a nearby alleyway.

Andrei opens his mouth to scream, but a cold hand grabs him by the throat and slams him into the wall. Andrei’s vision goes fuzzy.

“Scream, and I will drain you right here,” a voice threatens. Andrei blinks rapidly, trying desperately to focus his eyes onto his attackers.

It doesn’t take him more than a moment to place them. The two people standing in front of him are none other than the frat boys that Fil had been arguing with at the party.

“What — What the hell do you want from me?” Andrei chokes out.

The two frat boys grin at him, showing off their glistening white fangs. _Fuck._

“Revenge, of course, vampire hunter,” says the brown-haired vampire. “What else?”

The blond frat boy tightens his hold on Andrei’s throat, and Andrei coughs, scrabbling at the vampire’s hands.

“Fil,” Andrei rasps, the realization dawning on him. “He set me up.”

“Zadina?” the brown-haired frat boy scoffs. “No way. He’s gotten soft on you humans in the last few decades. He tried to warn you, you know.”

Andrei goes cold. “What?”

“Lucky for us, you were too stupid to listen to him,” the blond frat boy says. “But now, that’s enough talk. It’s time for you to die.”

The brown-haired frat boy lunges for Andrei, but before he can reach him, Andrei’s cross flares up, bright and blinding. The vampires recoil violently at the white light, the blond frat boy releasing his hold on Andrei’s neck. Andrei takes advantage of their confusion and springs forward, nailing one of the vampires in the face with a punch.

The vampires recover quicker than Andrei would have liked, and the frat boy that Andrei’d punched returns the favor with a few punches of his own. Andrei stumbles backwards at the force of it, and the vampires are on him immediately, forcing him back into the wall with that inhuman strength. He struggles, trying desperately to break out of their grip, but the frat boys just push him back even harder into the wall.

“You’re so weak,” the brown-haired frat boy says, sounding almost disappointed. “Can’t believe a little fucker like you killed so many of —”

A figure bursts out of the darkness and slams into the vampires. The two of them fly backwards, crashing into a nearby dumpster, but they’re both back on their feet within seconds.

“You!” the blond vampire snarls.

“... Fil?” Andrei says.

Fil glances at Andrei for barely a second before returning his gaze to the two vampires in front of him.

“I told you not to touch him,” Fil says, his voice cold.

The brown-haired frat boy laughs. “And what are you gonna do about it? It’s two against one, Zadina. You’re gonna lose.”

Fil fixes him with an icy glare. “Try me.”

Fil lunges for the vampires, and the fight dissolves into a blur of kicks and punches, the vampires moving around much too quickly for Andrei’s eyes to follow.

The whole thing is over much faster than Andrei thought it would be. Fil grabs one of the vampires and hurls him into alleyway dumpster with an earth-shattering crash, and the vampire stays down, bloody and unmoving.

“No!” the blond frat boy screams.

Fil takes a step back, panting hard. “Give it up already,” he says. “You’re no match for me alone.”

“This isn’t over,” the blond frat boy spits.

_“Leave.”_

The blond vampire snarls at Fil, but he scoops up his unconscious friend without a word and leaves.

As soon as the vampire goes, all of the fight drains out of Fil’s body. He stumbles, and Andrei rushes forward to catch him before he falls over.

“Shit,” Andrei says. “Are you okay, Fil?”

Fil chokes out a laugh. “Do I look okay?”

Andrei looks at him. Fil’s chest and neck are covered in huge gashes, and they’re slowly spurting thick, black, blood. His shirt is already getting soaked with it. His skin is snow white and almost as cold, and it’s the first time since Andrei’s met him that Fil’s really looked like a vampire. 

“No, you don’t,” Andrei says. “Fuck. Come on, Fil, let’s get out of here.”

“I tried to warn you,” Fil mutters as Andrei steers him forward, his arm wrapped around Fil’s shoulders to keep him upright.

“I know,” Andrei says. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“S’okay,” Fil says. He blinks, looks around. “Where — Where are we going?”

“My apartment,” Andrei says. “It’s only a few blocks away, we’ll be there soon.”

Fil’s quiet for a long moment.

“Okay,” he says finally.

It only takes them a few more minutes to get to Andrei’s building. Climbing the stairs proves to be a bit of a hassle, but thankfully, Andrei lives on the second floor, so they don’t have to go up too many, anyway. Andrei fumbles his key out of his pocket and opens the door to his apartment, but before the two of them can walk in, Fil stops short, his foot frozen over the threshold.

“I can’t —” Fil starts. He bites his lip. “You have to invite me in, Andrei.”

Andrei hesitates. 

Andrei’s father had a lot of rules when it came to vampire hunting, but the one he drilled into Andrei’s head the hardest was this: don’t ever invite a vampire into your house. 

“Home is your last line of defense,” his father had always said. “It’s the only thing they can’t get through. If you lose that, then everything is lost.”

Andrei swallows. “Come in, Fil,” he says.

Fil’s foot unfreezes over the threshold of the door, and he tumbles into Andrei’s apartment. He makes his way to the living room couch and promptly collapses on it.

Andrei thinks about Martin, possibly still awake, coming out and seeing Andrei bring a guy covered in blood into their apartment, and he panics for a second, trying to think of a plausible explanation for all of this. But when he checks Martin’s bedroom, there’s no one there, and Andrei breathes out a sigh of relief. Thank god Martin’s been spending most of his nights at Janne’s lately.

“What are you…?” Fil asks.

“Making sure my roommate isn’t home,” Andrei says. “Stay there, I’m gonna get the first aid kit.”

“Okay,” Fil says. 

Andrei ducks into the bathroom and grabs the first aid kit from its hiding place under the sink. He stops in the kitchen to pick up a washcloth before he returns to the living room and goes to work bandaging Fil’s wounds. 

“Your roommate won’t notice if there’s a bunch of shit missing from the first aid kit?” Fil asks as Andrei dabs away the dark blood from the gash on his neck. 

“I’ve got two,” Andrei says as he carefully wraps the cut up with gauze, just like how Zhenya used to do for him. “One’s for the apartment. This one’s for vampire-hunting injuries.”

Fil snorts. “Bet you never thought you were gonna use it to bandage up a vampire, did you?”

Andrei pauses. “No,” he says. “I didn’t.”

It doesn’t take long for Andrei to finish wrapping up all of Fil’s wounds. Fil carefully pulls off his shirt so that Andrei can get to the cuts on his chest, and Andrei resolutely does not get distracted by his abs.

“There,” Andrei says, leaning back. “All done.”

“Thanks,” Fil says.

The gauze on his chest looks neat and clean, but when Fil turns his head, Andrei can see that his blood is already starting to soak through the bandage on his neck.

“Wait, why are you still bleeding so much?” Andrei asks. He leans forward and touches Fil’s neck. “Aren’t vampires supposed to have super-healing or something?”

Fil doesn’t say anything. 

“Fil,” Andrei says. 

“It’s not healing because I haven’t fed in a week and a half,” Fil says. “It’s not — my body is too weak right now.”

“Oh,” Andrei says.

Fil starts to get up from the couch. “I’ll be fine, though. Thanks for the help.”

Andrei looks at him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna go find someone to feed on,” Fil says. He reaches for his bloody shirt that’s draped on the coffee table, but Andrei grabs his wrist before he can.

“You’re gonna go out like that?” Andrei asks, incredulous. “Fil, you’re hurt. Doing that is just asking to be attacked again.”

Fil frowns. “I beat up those other guys pretty good,” he says. “They’re not gonna be in any shape to fight me again.”

“Yeah, but they might have backup, now,” Andrei counters. “Friends who won’t take kindly to you hurting their friends.”

Fil scowls.

“You’re not leaving,” Andrei says firmly.

“What do you suggest, then?” Fil snaps. “This bleeding isn’t gonna stop unless I do something.”

Andrei opens his mouth. Then he closes it. He bites his lip. 

“Just let me go,” Fil says.

“Feed on me,” Andrei blurts out at the same time.

Fil stares at him. “What?”

Andrei looks down at his lap. “Just feed on me,” he says again. “That solves all our problems, right?”

Fil is quiet for a long moment. 

“Why are you doing this, Andrei?” he asks.

“I — You saved my life,” Andrei says. “Isn’t that enough?”

Fil looks at him. “Okay,” he says finally.

With one swift movement, Fil swings a leg over Andrei’s legs and straddles his lap, pressing him into the couch. Andrei’s hands automatically land on Fil’s hips.

“Oh,” Andrei says. He has to tilt his head up to look at Fil’s face now, which is — something. 

“Is this okay?” Fil asks. 

“Uh,” Andrei says. “Yes.”

Fil smiles at him then, and Andrei catches just the barest flash of his usual smirk. “Good.”

He leans down, gently setting his teeth on Andrei’s neck, and Andrei shivers.

“Wait,” Fil says, pulling back. “Your cross.”

“Oh,” Andrei says. He fumbles with the clasp on his gold chain and he all but chucks it onto the coffee table when he gets it undone. 

“Okay,” Fil says. “Now we’re good.”

Fil lowers his head back down to Andrei’s neck and bites. 

And — _fuck,_ Andrei forgot how good this feels. 

There’s a brief flash of pain as Fil’s teeth sink into Andrei’s skin, but it’s quickly washed away by an intense wave of pleasure, and Andrei can’t help the little, breathless noises that escape from his mouth. Fil’s mouth is hot and wet against Andrei’s neck, and it’s almost like his mouth is hardwired to his dick, because every time Fil sucks, Andrei feels another jolt of warmth spread through his body. 

“Fuck,” he says. “Fuck, Fil —”

Fil sucks even harder, and Andrei jerks against him, his hands digging into Fil’s hips hard enough to leave a bruise. Andrei feels Fil’s lips curl upwards against his skin, and Andrei bets he’s smirking again, that smug fucker. 

Eventually, Fil pulls away, wiping his mouth and leaving a thin streak of red on the back of his hand.

“Gross,” Andrei says. He lifts a hand and gently pokes the bite mark on his neck, which is already beginning to scab over.

Fil ignores him, busy unwrapping the bloody gauze from his neck. Underneath the bandage, his skin is smooth and unbroken, and Fil grins.

“It worked,” he says.

“Cool,” Andrei says, still panting a little. His dick is achingly hard in his pants.

Fil glances down at Andrei’s pants and looks back up.

“You know,” he says. “I could… help you with that.”

“Did you really just say that?” Andrei says.

Fil gives him an unimpressed look. “You heard me.”

He leans back into Andrei, sliding his hands up underneath Andrei’s shirt and brushing his lips over Andrei’s collarbone, and Andrei swallows, hard.

“Fil —” he starts.

Fil’s hands wander down over Andrei’s stomach and circle the waistband of his pants. “Well?” he asks. “What do you say?”

Andrei stares at him. Fil stares right back.

“We are not having sex on my living room couch,” Andrei manages to get out.

Fil grins at that, wide enough to show off his fangs. “Where’s your bedroom?”

 

They barely make it there. 

“Hey,” Andrei says breathlessly as Fil shoves him roughly onto the bed. “So I was wondering, do vampires actually get boners? I know you have blood, but since you’re technically undead and all—”

“Andrei,” Fil cuts him off. “Do you really want me to sit here and explain vampire biology to you, or do you want me to blow you?”

Andrei flushes bright red. “I — The second one,” he says, too quickly. “Please.”

Fil smirks. “I thought so.”

\---

Andrei leans his head back into his pillow and closes his eyes, tired but satisfied.

“Do you have tissues?” Fil asks.

“Nightstand,” Andrei says.

The bed squeaks as Fil rolls over to grab the tissues and cleans himself off. He dabs at Andrei’s stomach, too, and Andrei obediently shifts to give him a better angle. 

Fil laughs. “Are you always this useless after sex?”

“Shut up,” Andrei mumbles reflexively.

Fil snorts. He gets out of the bed, presumably to dispose of the tissues, and when he gets back, Andrei latches onto him, pulling him close.

Fil freezes up for a moment underneath Andrei’s arms, but then he relaxes.

“Clingy,” he says. 

“Bite me,” Andrei says, and promptly falls asleep. 

\---

When Andrei wakes up the next morning, the bed’s empty, but when he reaches out, he can feel a hint of lingering warmth in the bedsheets beside him.

Andrei stumbles out of bed and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he comes out, he finds Fil in the kitchen, standing by the coffee maker.

“The coffee machine is broken, just so you know,” Andrei says, coming up from behind him.

Fil doesn’t respond, and Andrei realizes he’s looking not at the coffee machine but at the little framed picture sitting next to it on the kitchen counter.

“Is this your family?” Fil asks carefully.

“Yeah,” Andrei says, peering down at the photo over Fil’s shoulder. “That photo’s from a few Christmases ago, I think.”

“Who’s this?” Fil asks, tapping the person standing on the left side of the picture.

“That’s my father,” Andrei says.

Fil stares at the photo.

“Fil?” Andrei asks tentatively.

“You’re a Svechnikov,” Fil says flatly. 

Andrei blinks. “How did you—?”

“The vampire-hunting Svechnikovs,” Fil says. “That’s your family, isn’t it?”

“... Yeah?” Andrei says.

Fil carefully sets the picture back on the kitchen counter, glass side down.

“Your father killed my best friend,” he says.

“Oh,” Andrei says dumbly.

“Yeah, oh,” Fil says, sharp.

“I — I’m sorry, Fil,” Andrei says. “But if my dad… if my dad killed him, he must have had a good reason —”

“No, he fucking _didn’t,_ Andrei,” Fil snaps. “Marty never did anything!”

“He was a vampire!” Andrei argues.

 _“I’m_ a vampire!” Fil yells. “Are you going to kill me?”

“I —” Andrei bites his lip.

Fil laughs, an ugly little thing. “God, you vampire hunters are all the same,” he bites out, and Andrei’s never heard him so angry. “You just — Do you think I asked for this? That I _wanted_ to become a fucking monster who has to suck people’s blood to stay alive? Because I fucking didn’t, Andrei. And yeah, I know there are vampires out there who hurt and kill people for fun, but most of us are just trying to fucking survive. Like me. And Marty. Christ, you don’t see me indiscriminately killing every human I see just because a few of you are bad, do you?”

“I didn’t know —” Andrei tries.

“No, of course you didn’t,” Fil says bitterly. “You never even tried to understand us.”

He lets out a deep breath.

“I need to go,” Fil says. 

“Fil,” Andrei says, but somehow, the right words won’t come out of his mouth. 

“Goodbye, Andrei,” Fil says.

He turns around and heads for the door, but it swings open before he can reach it. 

“Hey Andr—” Martin says. 

Fil shoves him to the side and storms out.

Martin blinks. “What the — who the hell was that?”

Andrei stares down at his hands, gripping the kitchen counter. 

“Andrei?” Martin asks tentatively. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Andrei says, and he escapes back into his room. 

\---

Andrei tries to find Fil after that, but it turns out, Fil’s pretty good at avoiding him. He must have switched his hours around at the Starbucks, because he’s never around when Andrei comes in anymore. Or maybe he didn’t change his hours, maybe he just hides out in the bathroom whenever he sees Andrei approaching through the shop windows. Either way, Andrei doesn’t see him there. 

The coffee cups Andrei receives still misspell his name but they don’t come with doodles anymore. 

It’s… weird. Andrei hadn’t realized how much Fil had infiltrated his life until he was gone.

“What, no more coffee doodles?” Alexey asks once, plucking the cup out of Andrei’s hand. He makes a little cooing noise. “Aww, did you and Starbucks boyfriend have a fight?”

Andrei snatches his coffee back. “Can’t you just mind your own business for once in your fucking life?” he snaps.

Alexey blinks. He closes his mouth.

“Sorry,” Andrei says. “I didn’t mean — Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Alexey says quietly. Then, “Do I need to beat him up?”

Andrei pictures Alexey trying to beat up Fil and stifles a laugh. “No,” he says. “But thanks for the offer.”

“Are you sure?” Alexey says. “Because I am very willing.”

“I’m sure,” Andrei says. “I think — I think I’m the one who messed up, anyway.”

Alexey gives his arm a sympathetic pat. “Then you should probably apologize to him, no?” he says gently.

Andrei stares down at the sad, doodle-less coffee in his hand. 

“Yeah,” he says. “I know.”

\---

In the end, there’s only one other place where Andrei might be able to find Fil. 

It takes him a couple of tries, but eventually, on a Thursday night, Andrei goes back to the bar where he first met Fil, and sure enough, he spots a familiar face sitting at the bar. 

Fil doesn’t move as Andrei sits down in the seat next to him, just keeps sipping his drink.

“Hey Fil,” Andrei says quietly. 

Fil doesn’t respond. 

Andrei chews on his lip. “Listen, about what you said before,” he says carefully. “My family has always raised me to think that vampires are evil. That they’re monsters. And I never really had a reason to question that until — until you. Because… Christ, Fil, you’re not a monster. You — You’re sweet, and charming, and infuriating, and amazing, and I’m sorry. You’re right. I can’t just take down every vampire I see just because some of them are bad. It’s not right.”

Fil stays quiet. He’s still not looking at Andrei.

Andrei hesitates. “Maybe we can — work together? To protect people from the vampires who are actually dangerous. If you want to, I mean. I don’t know.”

Andrei lapses into silence. Fil takes a long swig from his beer and turns to him.

“So I’m amazing, am I?” Fil asks, a smirk playing at the edge of his mouth, and Andrei —

“I take it all back, I hate you,” Andrei says.

“No, no, you think I’m _amazing,”_ Fil teases.

“You’re the worst,” Andrei huffs. He starts to turn away, but Fil catches hold of his hand and pulls him back.

“The answer is yes, by the way,” he says. “To your offer.”

Andrei blinks. “Really?”

Fil smiles. “Yeah. I mean, there are more than a few asshole vampires out there who I’d love to beat the shit out of, and I don’t think it would hurt to have backup.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Andrei agrees. 

“Did you really think I might say no?” Fil asks.

Andrei shrugs jerkily. “I don’t know,” he says. “You were mad at me. Or still are mad at me, maybe.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Fil says. He gives Andrei’s hand a little squeeze and then carefully threads their fingers together, slow enough that Andrei could put a stop to it if he wanted to. He doesn’t. 

“If you haven’t noticed, I like you a lot,” Fil says. “So. Of course I was gonna say yes.”

Andrei looks down at their intertwined hands. “I like you a lot, too,” he says quietly. 

Fil grins. “That’s good,” he says. 

Andrei lets himself grin back. “Yeah,” he says. “It is.”

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://www.traviszajac.tumblr.com) \+ [twit](http://www.twitter.com/pavelzachas)


End file.
